Investigation on the potential sorbents — Aluminosilicate, microalga and grass hay as feed additives

Abstract

In the present study, three natural materials — aluminosilicate, microalga Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis and grass hay were examined in terms of sorption properties. Materials enriched with Cr(III), Mn(II) and Mg(II) ions were tested independently using two analytical techniques — ICP-OES and SEM-EDX. Preliminary sorption experiments were conducted with Cr(III) ions under following conditions: pH 5.0, 180 min, 300 mg/L of metal ions in the solution and 1 g/L of each sorbent. Maximum sorption capacity for aluminosilicate was 14.2 mg/g, for grass hay — 34.3 mg/g and for Spirulina platensis — 51.5 mg/g. ICP-OES and SEM-EDX techniques determined the enrichment of the sorbent. For all tested sorbents, the highest content of Cr, Mg and Mn was in the enriched Spirulina platensis (16.2 ± 3.25 g/kg; 6.98 ± 1.40 g/kg; 10.6 ± 2.12 g/kg, respectively), then grass hay (13.7 ± 2.74 g/kg; 4.59 ± 0.92 g/kg; 9.38 ± 1.88 g/kg, respectively) and finally aluminosilicate (8.69 ± 1.74 g/kg; 4.47 ± 0.89 g/kg; 4.03 ± 0.81 g/kg, respectively). The most even distribution of Cr, Mg and Mn after sorption was noted for aluminosilicate. Our results regarding sorption properties and those of scientific reports on the nutritional value of Spirulina platensis show that this biosorbent can be used as a potential feed additive.